With all those retirees, why are Venice's roads so busy?

Congestion at the intersection of US 41 and Venice Avenue in Venice peaks around 3p.m.

CORRESPONDENT PHOTO / MATT HOUSTON

By DOUG SWORD

Published: Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 4:39 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 4:39 p.m.

VENICE - If the workplace is the source of much of life's hypertension, this city must be one of the most laid-back communities around.

Facts

DID YOU KNOW?

Nationally, 58.8 percent of people older than 16 have jobs, while the figure for Florida is 54.1 percent.

But the average in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties is about 8 percentage points lower.

North Port has the highest concentration of workers in the region with 52.9 percent employed.

Those figures are clearly tied to age.

North Port is the youngest community in Sarasota County with a median age of 40.9 years, about the same as the state average.

The typical resident of Bradenton is about two years older; in Sarasota, four years older; and in Venice, 27 years older.

There also is a big connection in the Census figures between having a child and having a job.

In more than 70 percent of households in Sarasota, Bradenton and Port Charlotte where there is a child under 6 years of age, all parents — one in a single-parent home, both in a two-parent home — are in the labor force.

The U.S. average is 64.5 percent, but locally the figures are Bradenton, 75.5 percent; Port Charlotte, 75.3 percent; and Sarasota, 73.8 percent.

CORRECTION:This story has been changed to correct the spelling of Mike Gippert's name.

Only 30.5 percent of Venice's residents have jobs, which is about half the national average and low even for retiree-centric Florida.

But that is not to say that they are the stay-at-home types, though traffic patterns in Venice also set the city well apart from all of its neighbors.

These phenomena are clear in new figures coming from the U.S. Census Bureau that describe the working and driving habits of residents 16 and older.

Because the average age of Venice residents, again per the Census, is 67.6, the obvious reason for the unusually low jobs rate is the city's dominant retiree population.

That kind of population also is reflected in a recent recommendations that the Venice Bypass be widened for $72 million.

The bypass is clogged largely with commuters during morning and evening drive times, but unlike the typical highway, traffic is at its most snarled in the mid-afternoon.

Venice's status as one of the oldest communities in America along with its predominately retired population, makes it unique from a traffic planning view, says Dan Hardy, a principal with Renaissance Planning Group, the Arlington, Va., consultant hired to make recommendations on the proposed widening of the Venice Bypass.

There is a phenomenon in planning circles called "peak hour spread."

When roads become jammed during rush hours, people who can change their driving patterns do so and traffic congestion spreads over longer periods of time.

But any idea that the Venice Bypass' problems could be addressed by getting retirees to stop going to Publix at 8 a.m. for a gallon of milk is flawed.

For most roads, an hour-by-hour traffic study yields a chart that looks like a suspension bridge, Hardy says. The bridge's towers are at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Traffic lulls in between and is virtually non-existent overnight.

"The issue of Venice being older is enough to make that suspension bridge look different," Hardy says.

Peak travel on the Venice Bypass is not during morning and evening drive times, it is between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Traffic is actually heavier for each hour between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. than it is during the early and late drive-time hours.

That could be because of early-bird diners, or it may be rooted in nightfall coming early during the peak tourist season and older populations tending to avoid driving at night.

From a commuting standpoint it might make sense for North Port and Venice to switch locations.

Even though — and perhaps because — fewer than one out of every three Venetians have jobs, they have the quickest commuting times in the region taking an average of 17 minutes and 18 seconds to get to work each day. North Port has the highest commuting time at 27 minutes and 30 seconds.

Mike Gippert, who knows something about long commutes. admits that Venice is a pretty laid back place. He retired to the city in 2003 from his Washington, D.C., job as a U.S. Department of Agriculture lawyer.

"I think that's changing because we're getting into the baby boomer retirees; they're less likely to sit on the couch using the clicker," Gippert said.

They also are more likely to get involved in community affairs, as Gippert has, and replicate the kind of structured days they had when they were working.

The 64-year-old's retirement included becoming enamored of the new Legacy Trail and helping to form Friends of the Legacy Trail. He is that organization's president.

<p><em>VENICE</em> - If the workplace is the source of much of life's hypertension, this city must be one of the most laid-back communities around.</p><p>Only 30.5 percent of Venice's residents have jobs, which is about half the national average and low even for retiree-centric Florida.</p><p>But that is not to say that they are the stay-at-home types, though traffic patterns in Venice also set the city well apart from all of its neighbors.</p><p>These phenomena are clear in new figures coming from the U.S. Census Bureau that describe the working and driving habits of residents 16 and older.</p><p>Because the average age of Venice residents, again per the Census, is 67.6, the obvious reason for the unusually low jobs rate is the city's dominant retiree population.</p><p>That kind of population also is reflected in a recent recommendations that the Venice Bypass be widened for $72 million.</p><p>The bypass is clogged largely with commuters during morning and evening drive times, but unlike the typical highway, traffic is at its most snarled in the mid-afternoon.</p><p>Lines of Venice traffic actually decline as evening drive-time approaches, the analysis shows.</p><p>Venice's status as one of the oldest communities in America along with its predominately retired population, makes it unique from a traffic planning view, says Dan Hardy, a principal with Renaissance Planning Group, the Arlington, Va., consultant hired to make recommendations on the proposed widening of the Venice Bypass.</p><p>There is a phenomenon in planning circles called "peak hour spread."</p><p>When roads become jammed during rush hours, people who can change their driving patterns do so and traffic congestion spreads over longer periods of time.</p><p>But any idea that the Venice Bypass' problems could be addressed by getting retirees to stop going to Publix at 8 a.m. for a gallon of milk is flawed.</p><p>For most roads, an hour-by-hour traffic study yields a chart that looks like a suspension bridge, Hardy says. The bridge's towers are at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.</p><p>Traffic lulls in between and is virtually non-existent overnight.</p><p>"The issue of Venice being older is enough to make that suspension bridge look different," Hardy says.</p><p>Peak travel on the Venice Bypass is not during morning and evening drive times, it is between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Traffic is actually heavier for each hour between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. than it is during the early and late drive-time hours.</p><p>That could be because of early-bird diners, or it may be rooted in nightfall coming early during the peak tourist season and older populations tending to avoid driving at night.</p><p>From a commuting standpoint it might make sense for North Port and Venice to switch locations.</p><p>Even though — and perhaps because — fewer than one out of every three Venetians have jobs, they have the quickest commuting times in the region taking an average of 17 minutes and 18 seconds to get to work each day. North Port has the highest commuting time at 27 minutes and 30 seconds.</p><p>Mike Gippert, who knows something about long commutes. admits that Venice is a pretty laid back place. He retired to the city in 2003 from his Washington, D.C., job as a U.S. Department of Agriculture lawyer.</p><p>"I think that's changing because we're getting into the baby boomer retirees; they're less likely to sit on the couch using the clicker," Gippert said.</p><p>They also are more likely to get involved in community affairs, as Gippert has, and replicate the kind of structured days they had when they were working.</p><p>The 64-year-old's retirement included becoming enamored of the new Legacy Trail and helping to form Friends of the Legacy Trail. He is that organization's president.</p><p>"Service is a big deal to the people I talk to."</p><p>And even service can require a lot of driving.</p>